In front of a room of 200 people, Cynthia Banda shared her family's story Wednesday in Mission.

Cynthia is the sister of Melissa Banda, who was killed in August 2020 after her ex-husband kidnapped her from her home in McAllen.

“I lost my best friend. The kids lost their mom, my kids lost their aunt,” Cynthia said. “It has not been easy because she was my everything."

Melissa’s ex-husband — Richard Ford — was sentenced to life without parole in March 2024.

Cynthia said is now turning her pain into purpose by sharing her sister's story of domestic violence to bring change, and hope that people convicted of domestic violence get tougher consequences.

“I want them to have longer jail time. An ankle monitor or something that's not in place that helps the victims because if they are continuing to repeat the process, nothing scares them,” Cynthia said.

Cynthia spoke at the Violence Against Women's Conference in Mission that was hosted by the Angels Of Love organization.

The group helps victims of domestic violence.

“Here in the Valley, there is not a lot of education on this topic,” Angels of Love Victims Advocate Jumairy Campos said.

Campos said many victims aren't comfortable speaking up, and she hopes the conference changes that.

“There are communities out there that think domestic violence is normal and a generational thing,” Campos said.

Cynthia said she hopes her sister's story will convince someone experiencing domestic violence to get out and get help.

“If I can speak and let people know what we went through, maybe one victim will say, ‘hey, that's enough. I am not doing that and I need to get out of it,'” Cynthia said.

Watch the video above for the full story.